Retail stores that use wheeled shopping carts for the collection of goods from a store, such as a supermarket, usually are pushed from behind. The shopper engages the horizontally extending cylindrical handle of the cart and pushes the cart from place to place about the store. In some instances, a small child, such as a toddler, is placed in the collapsible seat adjacent the handle of the shopping cart so that the shopper can have his or her hands free for shopping while being positioned close to the child.
Under the above noted circumstances, the hands of the shopper and possibly the hands of the child of the shopper come in contact with the shopping cart handle. Contaminants present on the cart handles are spread by this contact. The spread of germs starts when hands touch the cart handle and the hands are subsequently placed on other surfaces that are touched by others. The contamination path is even more frightening with children that hold onto a shopping cart handle and then bring their hands to their mouths or when a child puts his or her mouth directly on the handle.
When the cart is later moved to the checkout counter, the goods within the cart are removed, checked out and bagged, and the empty cart is then moved to another area where it is made available for a subsequent shopper. When the next shopper and possibly the shopper's child use the cart, the subsequent shopper and child contact the same handle with their hands and contact the germs, etc. that remain on the handle from the previous shopper.
Since it is sometimes necessary for a sick person to shop at a retail store, particularly at a supermarket to buy food and where shopping carts are used, the handles of shopping carts are a hazardous place to contact with a person's hands. The shopper, and especially the shopper's child, are subjected to the germs and other undesirable remaining matter of the previous shopper left behind on the handle of the shopping cart, and the subsequent shopper is likely to contact the germs of the previous shoppers that used the same cart and apply his/her own germs and other undesirable matter to the handle for the next shopper.
It is likely that during the shopping in the store the shopper will handle or touch trays containing raw meat and/or raw poultry while making the decision to buy or select another product. Usually traces of blood and other liquid matter exuded from then raw contents is present on the exterior of the package, but these contaminants on the outside of the trays are difficult to detect and are contacted by the unwary shopper. Shoppers usually touch the outside of the trays, then touch the cart. The germs can remain on the surfaces of the cart, including on the handle of the cart, for hours or even longer. It's common knowledge that raw meat and raw poultry can carry serious pathogens like E. Coli. These bacteria can kill a child or an elderly person whose immune system is underdeveloped or weakened.
Another path of contaminants is the carts left outside the store. Customers are exposed to potential viruses from birds that perch on the carts.
Very few supermarkets wash or clean their carts. Recently some stores have provided wipes treated with sterilizing fluid that tend to reduce the contamination of the cart handles; however, a time of about five minutes is required for the sterilizing fluid to become effective. Also, the customer may not want to make direct contact with the sterilizing fluid.
Except as noted above, the proprietor of the supermarket usually does not provide any means for avoiding contact from one customer to the next of the germs and other matter left by previous customers on the shopping cart handles. In order to avoid the contact of a customer with contaminants present on the handles of a wheeled shopping cart, some customers have worn gloves or have applied some protective surface to the handle, or have wiped the handle clean before contacting the handle with his or her hands. It is believed that the expense and inconvenience of providing such shopping cart handle protectors is a deterrent to the grocery store chain and other retail stores for supplying such handle protectors. However, the health conscious public has become more aware of the compelling scientific evidence that proves shopping carts are a health risk, and the public is looking for an effective solution to reduce of bacterial contact.
It is to this problem that this invention is directed.